Getting caught and embarrassing the nation

Our president is in a truckload of trouble. According to the national news, he may have had a relationship with a woman, not his wife, and his lawyer may have given her money to keep it quiet. May have, along with allegedly, are two of the phrases used to hedge one’s speech to avoid the ramifications of wrongly accusing a person of misdeeds.

Our president has been embarrassed in front of the whole planet and the country has egg on its face by association. I can believe Trump didn’t know about the payoff. The cabal surrounding a powerful person will act in what they feel is the best interest of their principal. The president needed to maintain plausible deniability. His attorney could have made the pay-off without his knowledge. In the world these people travel, they have access to unlimited amounts of money and $130,000 isn’t an overly large sum.

The lesson that should be learned here is that people who can be bought, don’t stay bought.

I have never understood why, when President Bill Clinton was being deposed, instead of lying he didn’t stone-wall. Refuse to answer the question and tell the interrogator to move on, or if he persists, terminate the interview. Mr. Clinton thought he could lie his way out of it and that he was so popular and good looking the country could be kept in the dark.

Given two choices, being found an outright liar is far worse than being evasive and looking guilty. We all knew Donald Trump was a piece of work when he was elected. People voted for him anyway, hoping his success in business would translate into a financial boost for the United States.

Powerful men (and women) have had outside paramours since the beginning of time. This entire scandal is designed to humiliate our president, which embarrasses our country. That is the real shame in this situation. The people who have shined a light on this particular skeleton in the president’s closet are hoping to keep him a one term president or get him impeached while he plays keep-away with his past. It is obvious to me they will do anything and say anything to make that happen.

There was a time when plotting to overthrow the president was considered treason. This situation is just another political game.

It would have been better if our president hadn’t been such an alleged philanderer in his personal life. Is anybody really surprised he had afternoon tea when he encountered a porn star? He owned an entire beauty pageant empire. If that isn’t a tailor-made excuse to meet pretty ladies, what is? Probably many more women have had tea with Mr. Trump and are waiting their turn to grab their time in the spotlight with their tawdry little tales.

The campaign #me-too is a way for women to speak up who were coerced into a comprising position by a famous or powerful man. I do feel sorry for women who want so much to be actresses that they felt they had to trade some of their dignity in exchange for a chance at stardom.

But the price of fame is very high and I have trouble believing these women didn’t know how this particular game is played. The staffers on the Today show should have raised a ruckus at the time instead of going along to get along.

Years ago, I had an employer who asked me if anyone in our employ had made me uncomfortable in an inappropriate manner. I answered truthfully, no. I was then asked if I would be, comfortable coming to him or another member of the administration staff if someone who worked for us made inappropriate comments or gestures.

I asked if I should speak to them before or after I called the ambulance?

Men shouldn’t prey on women just because they think they can get away with it. Women should do whatever is necessary to protect themselves from these brutes.

This type of harassment is another aspect of bullying. My experience with bullies has been that they are basically cowards and being a bully is just a façade. With most bullies, if you stand up to them they tend to fold like a cheap suit.

I fail to see how cyber bullying can destroy the life of a child. Not everyone is going to play nice. We were taught that as children. Of course, when my generation turned 18 years old they were handed an M-16 rifle and sent to Southeast Asia to fight communism. After Trump won the White House there were teachers and administrators setting up safe spaces to provide counseling and other services to supporters of the opposition.

The term snowflake has been used to describe people who are this fragile. Finally, there is an insulting phrase without a concerned consumer group to protect it.

Parents do their best to shield their children from harm but if that shelter leaves them unable to deal with the stress of the grown-up world, they are not doing them any favors. Life can be a cold, cruel experience and the sooner the current crop of kids learns that, the better equipped they will be to deal with it.

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Have a great weekend.

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Readers may contact Tami Jo Nix by emailing tamijonix@gmail.com or following @TamiJoNix on Twitter.